From the Permanent Missions of: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark,

Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

21 August 2013 HE Mr Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General United Nations

Syria: Chemical Weapons We would like to bring to your attention credible reports of the use of chemical weapons on 21 August 2013 in Rif Damascus. Given the gravity of these reports, we judge it essential that all the pertinent facts are swiftly investigated. We therefore request that you launch an urgent investigation into these allegations as expeditiously as possible under the auspices of the Secretary Generals Mechanism for the Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons, as derived from the mandate established by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/42/37C of 30 November 1987, and report back to Member States as soon as possible. We are aware that the UN Mission is now in Damascus. We urge you to do all you can to ensure that the Mission has urgent access to all relevant sites and sources of information. To assist the investigation, we submit a selection of open source information (Annex A). Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of our highest consideration. Gary Quinlan, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations Andreas Riecken, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations Bndicte Frankinet, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nations

Guillermo Rishchynski, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations Vladimir Drobnjak, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations Christina Rafti, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cyprus to the United Nations David Cervenka, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations Ib Petersen, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations Margus Kolga, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Estonia to the United Nations Nina Nordstrm, Charg daffaires a.i., Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations Alexis Lamek, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations Christophe Eick, Charg daffaires a.i., Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations Dimitris Caramitsos Tziras, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Greece to the United Nations Tim Mawe, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations, New York Antonio Bernardini, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations Tsuneo Nishida, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Mansour AlOtaibi, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations Inese Freimane-Deksne, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Latvia to the United Nations Ibrahim Dabbashi, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations Rita Kazragien, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Lithuania to the United Nations Olivier Maes, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Luxembourg to the United Nations

Milo Nikoli, Charg daffaires a.i., Permanent Mission of Montenegro to the United Nations Tine Mrch Smith, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations Karel J.G. Van Oosterom, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations Cristina Maria Cerqueira Pucarinho, Charg daffaires a.i., Representative, Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations Deputy Permanent

ukasz Zieliski, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations in New York Yousef Sultan Laram, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Abdallah Yahya A. Al-Mouallimi, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Frantiek Ruika, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the Slovak Republic to the United Nations Fernando Fernndez-Arias Minuesa, Charg daffaires a.i., Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations Gunnar Aldn, Charg daffaires a.i., Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations Thomas Guerber, Charg daffaires a.i., Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations Halit evik, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations Ahmed Al-Jarman, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations Philip Parham, Charg daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Charge daffaires a.i., Deputy Permanent Representative, United States Mission to the United Nations

Annex A Open source reporting Rif Damascus 21 August http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/21/syria-poisonous-gas-attack-claim - Syrian activists claim hundreds killed in poisonous gas attack http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-activists-accuse-government-ashundreds-die-in-chemical-weapons-attack-8777527.html - Syria crisis: Activists accuse government as hundreds die in 'chemical weapons attack' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10256236/Syria-denies-reports-ofdeadly-Damascus-nerve-gas-attack.html - Syria denies reports of deadly Damascus nerve gas attack http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23777201 - Syria conflict: 'Chemical attacks' near Damascus http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/21/c_132650833.htm - Activists accuse Syrian forces of using "poisonous gases" in Damascus countryside YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/embed/0fRTMheTT8A